Chapter 4 - Time for a Swim
When the last shift was over, Sierra and Kevin went around waking everyone up.
Ellie sat up slowly. "So, now what do we do?"
"Make the best of things?" Hazel suggested.
"Oh yeah, I’m great at that," Ellie muttered.
"I can’t believe it gets so cold at night and so damn hot in the day here," Brian commented, wiping his forehead.
"Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m going swimming," Nick decided.
"In what?" Howie asked curiously.
Nick shrugged. "My boxers."
Brian stood up. "I’ll join ya, bro."
Sierra clamped a hand over Tom’s mouth before he could comment.
"I’ll go, too. I’m dying in this heat," Becky announced.
"And what are you going to swim in?" Karen asked incredulously.
"I’ll leave my t-shirt on. It shouldn’t take long to dry in this heat," she answered.
"In that case, I’ll go, too," Ellie put in.
"So will I," Hazel added.
"What the hell, count me in," AJ said.
"We may as well all go down there," Kevin suggested.
"Yeah, so we can laugh at them all making idiots of themselves," Tom said cheerfully.
"And why won’t you be joining us, Tom?" AJ asked sweetly.
"I don’t want to get eaten by whatever might be in there," Tom explained.
Damn,, AJ thought. And I woulda enjoyed dunking him.
~~~
"Man, that feels good," Nick exclaimed, popping his head out of the water.
"Is it deep out there?" Becky asked, still in only to her knees.
"Yeah, I can’t reach out in the middle," he answered, swimming up to her. "Come in all the way."
"He wants you, oh baby oh baby!" Maggie shouted from shore.
Nick glared at her.
"That was uncalled for," Kevin commented.
"Oh c’mon, those two are drooling all over each other," Tom said.
"No they aren’t," Hazel and Sierra said in unison.
"I don’t see that either," Howie agreed.
Tom shrugged. "Fine, be that way."
Becky let Nick take both her hands and lead her into the water.
"Cold cold cold ACK!" she squealed as she tripped over a rock and landed on top of Nick.
The people on shore burst into applause as the two re-surfaced.
Brian stood quietly on the rock in the middle of the pond/lagoon and suddenly jumped off, cannon balling next to Nick’s head.
Nick then proceeded to tackle his band mate.
"When did he get out there?" Becky asked.
"He swam out there while you weren’t looking," Hazel answered as she waded into the water.
"Ah, this is nice," AJ remarked wading in behind Hazel. He then dove in head first and swam around.
Ellie joined the group. "It’s cold, but it feels so good in this heat," she remarked.
"You guys sure you don’t wanna come in?" Becky called.
"No thanks," the group on shore replied.
Nick and Brian finally stopped trying to dunk each other.
"We should play a game or something," Becky suggested.
"No we shouldn’t," Ellie said.
"Why not?" Brian asked. "I think it’s a good idea."
"Chicken fights!" Nick cried.
"Yeah!" Becky agreed.
"Oh God," Ellie moaned.
"Hey, it works out perfectly because there are three girls and three guys," AJ pointed out.
"Want to be partners again?" Nick asked Becky, trying not to blush.
"Uh, sure," she answered, not even trying to hide the fact that her face turned bright red.
Tom poked Sierra. "See that? See? They’re falling all over each other!"
"Shh!" Sierra told him.
Brian turned to Ellie and got on one knee. "Does my lady think that she could tolerate sitting on the humble shoulders of a Backstreet Boy?"
Ellie attempted to scowl. "I suppose I might be able to manage it," she replied, trying to deny the fact that her face was now the color of a tomato.
"Be careful!" Maggie shouted from the shore. "She hasn’t even mastered the chair!"
"Shut up!" Ellie yelled at her.
AJ grinned at Hazel. "I guess that leaves the two of us."
"I guess so," Hazel answered.
"Well, hop on, girl," he said cheerfully as he ducked under the water.
Hazel climbed onto his shoulders.
"Wanna go now?" Nick asked his teammate.
"Sure," she answered.
A minute later, the two pairs faced each other.
"Ready?" AJ asked.
"Ready," Nick and Becky answered.
The guys stepped forward. Becky and Hazel locked arms, trying to knock each other off.
"Nick and Becky are better balanced," Tom commented.
"Yeah, Hazel’s too tall," Maggie added.
Just as they predicted, Hazel and AJ toppled over a minute later.
The crowd of people on shore broke into polite applause.
"We rule!" Nick shouted.
"You want a break before the next round?" Becky asked.
"Nah, I’m okay," Nick replied. "You’re not that heavy."
"I’m warning you, I’m not the most coordinated person in the world," Ellie said apologetically to Brian.
Brian smiled. "That’s okay. It’s just a game." He ducked under the water to let her on.
Again firmly denying that her face looked anything but normal, Ellie climbed on his shoulders.
As Brian surfaced Maggie shouted, "He wants you, oh baby oh baby!"
"Shut up!" Ellie yelled, nearly falling off.
"Hey, don’t fall off before you go anywhere," AJ told her.
Ellie glared at him.
Becky tried not to laugh at her friend.
"You guys ready?" Nick asked.
"You bet," Brian answered.
Ellie nodded.
"Go!" AJ cried.
The pairs circled each other before finally coming in for an attack. Becky grabbed Ellie’s arms and gave her a firm shove backwards.
Ellie nearly fell, but held onto Becky’s arms, nearly causing her to fall forward. Nick held firmly onto her legs to stop her from going anywhere.
They remained locked for a moment, then Becky slid her arms quickly out of Ellie’s grasp.
The sudden move caused Ellie to lose her balance and tumble off of Brian’s shoulders.
"ALL RIGHT!" Nick shouted. "We rock!"
Brian helped Ellie back to the surface. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry we lost."
Brian grinned. "It’s okay."
AJ reached up and lifted Becky off of Nick’s shoulders. He then took one of each of their hands and raised them above his head. "Ladies and gentlemen, the Chicken Fight Champions!"
The others all clapped loudly.
~~~